WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- The John Brown University men's basketball team erased a 17-point first-half deficit and held Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) to just 21 second-half points as the Golden Eagles picked up a big road win 71-64 Thursday inside the Shaffer Center.
It was JBU's first win in men's basketball against the Lions since 2004 and the first against SAGU and head coach Donnie Bostwick since SAGU joined the conference in 2013. The Golden Eagles were 0-6 against Bostwick and SAGU going into the game. Bostwick is a former JBU player and Golden Eagle assistant coach under John Sheehy who helped JBU to the 2005 NAIA Division I National Championship.
Featuring six ties and six lead changes with under a minute to play, JBU head coach Jason Beschta called a timeout after SAGU knotted the score at 64 apiece.
Deep in the shot clock, sophomore Marquis Waller missed a jumper, but senior Miguel Martinez hunted down one of JBU's 14 offensive rebounds and set up sophomore Brandon Joseph with a wide-open 3-pointer, which fell at the end of the shot clock. Joseph's trey provided the Golden Eagles (10-6, 2-3 SAC) what would be the winning points.
Senior Zach English netted a pair at the free-throw line after a failed Lion comeback and Waller, missing the front end of a 1-and-1 with a second left, secured the rebound and the putback in the middle of four Lions to ice the contest.
"I'm extremely proud of the effort we showed tonight and the fight after being down 17 in the first half," said Beschta. "It was great to see our toughness come out and our commitment to defense. Holding them to just 23 percent in the second half was huge. It was our best half of defensive basketball this season.
"Several guys stepped up tonight. Zach's double-double was big and Marquis off the bench made some big plays and rebounded well. Brandon did a great job starting tonight and ran the offense well and played with a lot of confidence."
Coming up with timely shots, including at the end of the shot clock with 2:58 left in the game to keep the Golden Eagles tied at 59, was senior Zach English, who poured in a game-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and a 7-of-8 mark from the line. He completed his first double-double of the season by securing a game-high 11 rebounds.
Joseph made his first start of the season and made a pair of triples late in the game, leading to an 11-point performance and a perfect 3-of-3 mark from behind the arc. Waller scored 14 points off the bench and added three assists and nine rebounds.
Also off the bench came junior Samuel Egedi, whose steal and subsequent dunk put an exclamation point on John Brown's 21-3 run that spanned from the late first half and bled into the second. Egedi finished with six points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Lions had led by 17, 43-26, with 2:07 remaining in the first half.
"Hopefully this is a game that gives us a lot of confidence going forward watching ourselves beat a very talented team," Beschta said. "This should add to our belief in each other."
Keyunta Watkins scored a team-best 16 points for the Lions (13-4, 3-2 SAC), which had its five-game winning streak snapped. Josh Swearingin added 10 off the bench.
The Golden Eagles shot 12-of-14 from the line (85.7 percent) compared to SAGU's 4-of-7 mark (57.1 percent). The visitors also out-rebounded the Lions, 41-39, and converted 12 SAGU turnovers into 19 points. Although JBU turned the ball over 15 times, the hosts only connected on 11 points on subsequent possessions.
JBU returned to action on Saturday against Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth. Results were not available at presstime. The Golden Eagles are back on the court Thursday in their fourth straight road game at Science and Arts (Okla.). JBU returns home this Saturday against St. Gregory's.
Sports on 01/15/2017